Kendrick Perkins Wanted to Meet Celtics in NBA Finals

A big part of Perkins’ heart remains in Boston, which helps explain why he wasn’t happy to see the Celtics booted out of the postseason by the Miami Heat, thus crushing his dream of playing against them for the NBA title. From the Star-Telegram: “What happened to the Boston Celtics against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals was something Kendrick Perkins didn’t see coming. The Heat eliminated the Celtics, 4-1, Wednesday in their best-of-seven series and sent them to an early summer vacation. Perkins, now the starting center for the Oklahoma City Thunder after spending eight years with the Celtics, thought Boston had enough left in the tank to get past the Heat. ‘I am surprised,’ Perkins said. ‘I wasn’t expecting them to go down 4-1. I was expecting at least a seven-game series, or them to win it.’ The Celtics traded Perkins and guard Nate Robinson to the Thunder on Feb. 24 for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic. In his heart and soul, Perkins is still bleeding Celtic green. ‘I’d be lying to you if I would tell you I was disconnected from them,’ he said. ‘One thing about it is I spent eight years over there. The only thing about it is that we knew everything about each other. When the trade happened it definitely was surprising to everybody, but this is a business. But at the same time I was wishing the best for those guys, wishing that we both could probably end up in the Finals and meet up for something crazy like that.'”